Among the States, Maryland and Oklahoma posted the largest rate declines in 1999 (-1.1 points each), followed by Arkansas (-1.0 point). Four other States recorded decreases of more than three-quarters of a percentage point. (The District of Columbia's rate dropped by 2.5 percentage points.)

Among the Nation's nine geographic divisions, the Pacific division, along with the West South Central division, recorded the largest rate decrease from 1998 (-0.5 percentage point each). The drop in the Pacific division’s rate was largely due to improvements in the California labor market.